Latest News - Page 2553

It was twenty years ago at Superbowl XXXI that the world was first introduced to 'Independence Day', via the unforgettable explosive image of the White House being blown to smithereens and which helped propel it to one of the highest grossing films of all time. For the eagerly awaited sequel 'Independence Day: Resurgence', Twentieth Century Fox aired a gob-smacking new spot, which truly highlights the advancements of visual effects during the last two decades.

To coincide with the spot, the studio also unveiled the films theatrical poster, which harkens back to the iconic image from the original.

With returning starts Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch and Vivica A. Fox joined by newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe and Jessie Usher, expect explosions and general mayhem in true Roland Emmerich style as the future of the planet is decided.

Maybe it's a first world problem, but when you pay through the neck for mobile internet and calls here in Australia - you expect a level of service. Today, the country's biggest network Telstra, which services 16 million customers has dropped the ball in a pretty big way by announcing huge network outages.

According to News.com.au, huge swathes of Telstra's network in capital cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane went down just after midday, with many customers reporting they're still unable to make phone calls over two hours later.

The company has not issued an ETA on a network fix (which the company call an 'interruption'), but stay tuned to their site here.

iPhone bricked with the 'Error 53' problem going around? Don't worry about it - Apple has your back. No really, they do.

If you haven't already heard, thousands upon thousands of iPhone 6 users have lost their devices to 'Error 53', which is bricking expensive smartphones. Why? Error 53 has something to do with the Touch ID-powered Home button on the iPhone, which can be used as a fingerprint sensor to unlock your smartphone, compared to the four-digit code that's usually required.

But, if your iPhone has been damaged and you've had it fixed by a non-Apple approved repairer, then you're... well, screwed. A new update to iOS now detects non-standard components and shuts down your iPhone - bricking it - aka, your expensive iPhone is now useless. This is all because you didn't go to an Apple Store, and have your phone fixed. Apple has released a statement to The Guardian, where they said: "We take customer security very seriously and Error 53 is the result of security checks designed to protect our customers. iOS checks that the Touch ID sensor in your iPhone or iPad correctly matches your device's other components".

One of music's greatest producers Rick Rubin has a strange new project coming out: a Star Wars-themed electronic album featuring sound effect samples from the films. Named Star Wars Headspace, it includes tracks from Flying Lotus, Kaskade, A-Trak, Bonobo, Rubin himself, and many more. If you like, you can check out some samples here or listen to Zane Lowe's Beats 1 program throughout today to get a feel for it.

Headspace is releasing February 19 digitally (iTunes pre-orders are up here) and March 18 the old-fashioned way. The full track list is below.

The world's first Blu-ray player (in North America at least) is said to be available about a month ahead of time, starting as early as last Friday. The Samsung UBD-K8500 (which resembles a certain Sega console), according to some enthusiasts, can be found in some shops now, while Best Buy customers are being told it's shipping this Wednesday; others say a store in Santa Monica was advertising it and promptly sold out.

Funnily enough, the K8500 -- currently $399 -- can't actually play 4K Blu-rays at the moment, as they aren't currently available: Amazon is taking pre-orders for The Martian and Kingsmen: The Secret Service, but both don't ship until March 1. However, the device can stream 4K content from Netflix and other providers.

Google and Bing are already quite good at predicting what you're thinking and giving you relevant suggestions. But it's slow and the predictive algorithms just aren't quite good for actual real-time suggestions. So a graduate student from Cornell wants to speed things up considerably, making things potentially awesome, yet incredibly creepy.

We all like our personalized suggestions when shopping or even when searching for things. It legitimately helps us, despite the privacy concerns related to it. But those results don't show up instantaneously. There's a significant amount of background work going on that links your actions to those personalized results. Wenlei Xie has come up with an algorithm that could potentially speed things up to near real-time.

Search engines and their underlying suggestions generally use a weighted node graph which is examined analyzed to see just how appropriate the suggestion is based on years of collecting and correlating information. The problem that Xie has found is that there's just so much information to walk through, that it's incredibly slow. So to make it faster and more relevant even sooner, he's proposed simplifying those graphs. In essence they're assembling only the most pertinent information, and discarding a lot of the fluff, to make it quicker.

The semi-closed beta test for Hitman is going to begin at the end of the week and Square Enix has released a short trailer and an FAQ site to prepare us as we step into the role of Agent 47 once again.

Those on the PlayStation 4 of course get to enjoy the beta on starting on the 12th of February at 8:00am PST going through the 15th at 8:00am PST. Those on the PC will have to wait until the 19th at 2:00am PST and then you can play to your hearts content until the 22nd at 2:00am PST.

During the beta you'll only have access to the prologue mission, aptly named "The Prologue". This is a secret ICA training facility that Agent 47 first trained in. It's also the first time that you meet Diana, the familial handler that you eventually save in an earlier game set further along the timeline. You're give two completely free-form missions to play through to try out the mechanics of the game. How do you get in the beta? Read on below.

Last month it was reported uninstalling the Facebook app on Android dramatically improved performance; other reports have surfaced indicating 20% of battery life can be saved in doing so. The Guardian, curious to see the impact on iPhones, set to work with its iPhone 6S Plus and found battery life was impacted by 15%, even across multiple phones. As well, about 500MB of space was saved between the size of the app and its cache.

Between these benefits and the option to use the well-designed Facebook mobile website (which can be linked to via your home screen), you can see there are few reasons to keep the Facebook app on your phone, and many great reasons not to.

Facebook has been alerted to the performance issues; a spokesperson says the matter is being investigated.

Coming to the end of its worldwide run, Disney have announced that the latest entry in the 'Star Wars' franchise 'The Force Awakens' has crossed the $2 billion worldwide gross mark - only the third film in history to do so.

While the film didn't quite have the legs in the Chinese market to overtake the haul of James Cameron's 'Titanic', which grossed $2.18 billion in both the 1997 and 2012 releases, nor have the staying power to challenge record holder 'Avatar' with $2.7b, clearly $2 billion is nothing to be disappointed with, and displaces 'Jurassic World's take of $1.67 billion worldwide quite decisively. In a press release, Alan Horn, the Chairman of Walt Disney Studios said "This is a historic moment for 'Star Wars', for Lucasfilm, and for Disney, and all of us here are extremely gratified to be a part of this journey with fans around the world who have made 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' such an extraordinary success". Additionally, the film has also grossed just over $900 million in the domestic United States alone, the only film to have ever done so.

'The Force Awakens' is due to hit Blu-ray and DVD worldwide in April, where it will no doubt set more sales records.

While the Super Bowl 50 continues, we're seeing that AMD has been pushing its next-gen Polaris GPUs around - with a new Polaris-based flagship GPU, and the successor to the Fury X making an appearance.

The new C99 "FOC" (Full Operational Capacity) has been spotted on Zauba, with the C99 part being priced at $1700. This is an insane jump from the price of the previous Polaris-based C98 and C91/C92 chips. The C98 should be the successor to the R9 390 series, which will arrive as the new Polaris-based R9 490/490X. The C99 on the other hand could be the huge enthusiast Polaris, the successor to the Fury X, or some crazy dual-GPU beast.

The C98 board turned up on Zauba last month, and it holds a per unit value that is more than AMD's current Hawaii-based chips. The C91/C92 chips started shipping in January of last year, but the FOC designation was only attached in August 2015. The C91/C92 should be the lower-end Polaris-bases GPUs, which would most likely be the cards we were greeted to in Sonoma in December, and officially unveiled early January.

DICE is improving the netcode in Battlefield 4 on consoles, and it's doing so by changing a simple setting that should improve the experience significantly.

With the latest update on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the tickrate of 32 player servers has been increased from 30hz up to 45hz. They're reporting that this should improve all network related delays by around 11ms per single action. Meaning that your shots should register just about perfectly now.

They were able to test different tickrates through the holiday update and decided upon the higher rate after the data they collected showed a positive increase in player enjoyment for most playersThe changes don't effect 64 player servers. DICE will have a small testing period in which they invite feedback about the changes, to ensure it's the best possible option for everyone.

Safer Internet Day is upon us. Well, almost -- it's actually tomorrow, but Google is getting ahead of the game and encouraging its users to review their security settings as of today. In return, they'll reward you with 2GB free storage on Google Drive. Even better, it stacks with any previously rewarded extra storage, meaning you can have as much as 19GB total free storage as of today.

Reviewing your settings is simple: click here, then review your phone number, security question, connected devices, and account permissions, changing them or alterting Google to suspicious activity as necessary. Once done -- bam, free storage.

The opening cinematic for Dark Souls III is quite stunning, and you can view it right below. The cinematic style is on par with some very good movies even.

The three-minute intro very succinctly introduces us to the storyline that we'll be following in the very dark and despondent land of Lothric. It's actually quite well constructed and the narrative seems to fulfill the expectations we have for the series. In the trailer you'll see Yhorm the Giant, Farron's Undead Legions, Aldrich Saint of the Deep and even the reclusive Lord of the Profaned Capitol.

Merely watching the trailer brings back memories of the challenges from the first two. Dark Souls III will arrive on April 12th on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC through Steam.

Google could be on the verge of launching another VR headset sometime later this year. The Financial Times is reporting that Google's Cardboard venture was so incredibly successful that they may be looking to compete in the more expensive tiers of VR, going toe to toe with the likes of Gear VR.

The new device will have integrated sensors that improve the accuracy and speed of position tracking. Much like Gear VR it'll have actual lenses integrated to improve the viewing experience. Crucially, this device, according to the Financial Times, should be compatible with a wider variety of devices, and not limited to Samsung's Galaxy series.

Google recognizes the importance of virtual reality and the potential it holds. Just last month Clay Bavor, the new head of Google Cardboard told Time magazine just that, saying in an interview that "VR is too important and too powerful a medium to be accessible to only a few."

MSI has just launched its sleek, eye-tracking portable powerhouse GT72S G Tobii laptop, ushering in a new age of innovation to the world of performance mobile gaming.

Not content with just packing in insane high-performance gaming hardware into a portable laptop, MSI went a step further by including Tobii eye-tracking for a new dimension of interactivity. The laptop's Tobii eye-tracking technology has a wealth of practical applications for gaming, letting users switch targets, select objects, and even pause the game with the blink of an eye. The onboard tracking tech is currently supported by games like Arma III, Assassin's Creed; Syndicate, Elite Dangerous, and more.

"The GT72S G Tobii adds another dimension to gaming and provides a level of interaction and immersion never experienced before," says Andy Tung, MSI company president. "Our eyes will no longer be passive players, they will now direct, command and transport us into the future of PC gaming."

Deep neural-networks require a tremendous amount of power to actually be as effective as the human brain. Sure your Tesla Model S might ave a small DNN powered by NVIDIA inside, but it isn't nearly complex enough to to provide a full true-to-life aritifical intelligence experience. New breakthroughs from MIT might be able to provide full-on human-brain inspired AI experience on your phone.

Researchers at MIT presented a new chip mobile chip that's designed specifically for neural networks and it happens to be 10 times more efficient than any mobile GPU currently in production. They're calling it the "Eyeriss" and the researchers are hoping that it can potentially change small-device computing. Just imagine having Siri or Cortana being that much more useful because they've got the processing power local to them.

And beyond that this innovation could help to further develop the idea of the Internet of Things, where powerful AI programs can communicate with other devices and coordinate tasks to get things done nearly invisible to the user. The possiblities are endless with the way that individual small-machines needn't be connected to the Internet itself for the compute power itself, but instead merely for communication.

It seems that it's almost tradition for Marvel movies to include a post-credits reveal or sneak-peak into the next installment that they're working on. And Deadpool is definitely no exception in this regard. The co-creator of Deadpool, Rob Liefeld, wants everyone to know to stay until after the credits to enjoy something special.

To add a little excitement, the co-writer of the movie, Rhett Reese confirmed that this new after-credits bonanza was something that's been added just before it hits theaters, so not even the reviewers have seen what this is. Could this be a tie-in preview to a new Deadpool movie? Perhaps a jumping off point for the character Cable as well.

The mystery is intriguing and we're almost certain that staying for the teaser should be worth it, especially for fans of all things Marvel.

It seems that the excitement was a bit preemptive. Microsoft has removed the ability to download and play Red Dead Redemption from the Xbox store, saying that they were made available by some sort of error.

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb did take to Reddit to explain that RDR is currently in a testing phase, though that along with a few other games, they were accidentally made public. "Due to an error, some of the games currently in test were accidentally made available. We have since removed access to those games, and apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We will have more information on upcoming releases soon."

The good news is that we'll eventually be seeing it be available, though it's not quite clear when. The original story is still posted below for your convenience.

As an avid Fallout 4 PC player, my appetite for mods is quite voracious; I'm always eager to try on the newest arsenal of weapons and armor, and revel in new content. So naturally when I saw ex-Vault Dwellers can now dress up as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher 3, I instantly smashed the download link.

The Witcher 3 crossover Fallout 4 mod adds two different outfits from Geralt's sleek witcher wardrobe: the infamous battle dress seen in the game's promos, and his casual garb. Ren, the mod's creator, actually uses CD Projekt RED's own authentic models and textures from The Witcher 3.

Sadly, Geralt's infamous monster-slaying twin-blades aren't included in the mod, but we do get to use his crossbow. Before you get too excited, the crossbow doesn't shoot bolts, and instead acts like a pipe pistol when fired.

The lead writer for Titanfall 2, Jesse Stern, revealed quite a few telling and potentially positive details about the upcoming game in an interview he recently had with Forbes.

One of the positives, Stern explained, is the inclusion of a single-player campaign, an often criticized element that was missing in the first game. Furthermore, Stern wants it to be a more realistic story, something that builds upon the already good mythos that was little used in the first. He says it'll be "grounded, dirty, human and real."

Stern explained what's influencing their narrative direction. "What inspires us is the junction of technological advancement with the inevitability of conflict and war and what the next war might look like. In Titanfall 2 there will be a lot of [scenes] where science meets magic, but keeping it grounded and dirty and human and real."